Editorials

July 14, 1999

James Farmer

Death stills the 'voice,' conscience for justice

His eyes could no longer see, and diabetes had claimed his legs. Yet James Farmer, 79, never stopped fighting for human justice and dignity, never stopped teaching about the fundamental rights everyone should have, regardless of race.

Farmer, of Spotsylvania County, died Friday. He bestowed a certain honor on Virginia when he moved to the Fredericksburg area in 1980. His life had been filled with nonviolent marches and demonstrations in which protesters were often bloodied at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan and police.

The Texas native founded The Congress of Racial Equality in 1942, and he was part of the "Big Four" civil rights leaders that included Martin Luther King Jr., NAACP chief Roy Wilkins and Urban League head Whitney Young.

Starting in 1961, he led the Freedom Rides throughout the South to try to desegregate interstate buses and bus terminals. Such was the hatred of the time that a bus carrying the black and white activists was once burned to the ground. Another time, in Louisiana in 1964, Farmer narrowly escaped physical harm or even death from livid Klansmen.

He never quite gained the acclaim of Dr. King, yet Farmer was a giant in his own right. People who knew him spoke of his booming baritone, his animated passion. He taught at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg for 15 years, and the man who hired him there said he brought living civil rights history to the students: "It was like having Robert E. Lee lecturing on the Civil War."

Last year, President Clinton awarded Farmer the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award. It was a fitting tribute to a man who dedicated his life and spirit to justice.

Bald eagles

Tread slowly to take regal birds off endangered list

Majestic and proud are words that flow nicely in describing the bald eagle, which the United States adopted as its national symbol more than 200 years ago.

Once on the brink of extinction, the bald eagle is now soaring in this country because of recovery efforts by federal agencies, Indian tribes, conservation groups and others; the 1972 ban on the pesticide DDT, a chemical that, when the eagles ate contaminated fish, damaged their eggs; and limits on ranchers and farmers who feared the birds, which can grow to 14 pounds and have a wingspan of 8 feet.

Now, federal officials are considering removing the birds from the protection of the Endangered Species Preservation Act as early as July 2000. This move may be inevitable, but the people overseeing the birds' future should be cautious. Some officials, including Mitchell A. Byrd, a William and Mary scientist who has counted nesting sites for 20 years, fear that encroaching development could damage the habitat of the eagles.

This is not to deny the remarkable success story involving the strapping, brown bird with the white head and tail.

In 1967, bald eagles were placed on the endangered species list. Coupled with the later DDT ban, the birds have thrived since then. Just look at the numbers: In 1963, only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles were found in the Lower 48 states. Today, that number has risen to more than 5,700 nesting pairs, according to officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In Virginia, more than 500 breeding pairs exist, including some in Charles City County.

Federal officials say that other laws still would protect the eagles. But those laws don't protect their habitat like the Endangered Species Act does.

And, as shown by the increase in rabies cases in Virginia in recent years, housing developments keep spreading into the former domains of many animals. Could further encroachment hurt the eagles?

Cindy Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the Fish and Wildlife Service, says the birds no longer need the special protection. But certainly, we should make sure these majestic aviators never again face extinction.

If you'd like to comment, contact the Fish and Wildlife Service by Oct. 5. Write Jody Millar, bald eagle recovery coordinator, at 4469 48th Avenue Court, Rock Island, Ill., or e-mail through the agency's Web site at www.fws.gov

Yard strike

Keep talking to resolve the contract differences

Federal mediators are trying to defuse the war of words that had been waged in the media between the Steelworkers union and management at Newport News Shipbuilding. Hence, the two opposing sides are being tight-lipped about progress - or the lack of it - at the bargaining table in ending the strike, which now has reached more than 100 days old.

However, the union still blasted the yard and the Navy this week. Union officials said the Navy continues to pay the yard according to its contract while it falls behind schedule, and the union plans a demonstration July 23 in Washington.

Despite the latest salvo, the strikers, the personnel inside working different jobs and longer hours, and the community want to hear that a contract has been reached. Pensions and hourly pay are still two main issues in this strike called by Local 8888 of the United Steelworkers of America.

Economists at Old Dominion University say the strike has had little impact, so far, on retail sales and employment in Hampton Roads. The impasse has had a large impact, however, on the incomes of striking workers, on the productivity at the yard, and in the relationship between workers and management.